Home of gang member hit by machine gun fire

GARDAÍ in Limerick are investigating two shooting incidents which happened early yesterday morning, including one targeting the home of a leading member of the McCarthy Dundon gang.

The home of John Dundon, 29, was blasted several times by machine gun fire at around 6am. Dundon, who had fled the country in the aftermath of the murder of Limerick rugby player Shane Geoghegan last November, had just recently returned home and presented himself to gardaí.

After talking to gardaí, Dundon was brought before Limerick District Court yesterday on public order offences for which an arrest warrant had been issued.

Dundon appeared on YouTube in June taunting Christy Keane, who is linked to the Keane Collopy side.

In the highly publicised YouTube clip, Dundon was seen driving around in a left-hand drive Mercedes.

In a chilling warning to Christy Keane he said: “If you are looking for me, I am somewhere in Europe. I know where you are.”

Earlier, six bullets hit a house in Garryowen while a couple and their two young children were asleep. Nobody was hurt.

Gardaí suspect the attack is linked to an internal feud among members of the Keane Collopy gang based in St Mary’s Park.

Divisions have developed following the gun death last March of gang leader, Philip Collopy, 29.

Collopy died after ‘messing’ around with a Glock semi-automatic weapon during a house party in St Mary’s Park on March 21. He had removed the gun magazine, but did not realise one bullet still remained in the breech when he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

The shooting was captured on a mobile phone video camera.

Armed gardaí who were on patrol in the area were called to the scene at around 2am.

Collopy was subsequently pronounced dead at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital.

Shots were fired as his funeral cortege passed through St Mary’s Park. His body was dressed in military-style clothing and a tricolour was also placed in the coffin.

Since his death, a number of assaults involving Keane Collopy gang associates have occurred.

Some of the assaults involved women. One assault occurred in the pub most frequented by the Keane Collopy gang.

Another assault took place outside a fast food outlet.

Gardaí have been closely monitoring the movements of known members of the gang and were aware of the growing divisions within the gang since Philip Collopy’s death.

In yesterday’s gun attack, six bullets were fired into the front of a house in Garryowen while a couple and their two young children were asleep.

Nobody was hurt.

Garda forensic experts went through the scene yesterday to recover spent bullet shells.

Relations within the faction have been tense since November 2007 when notorious criminal Liam Keane stole Philip Collopy’s €37,000 Audi car in St Mary’s Park. It was later found burned out in Finglas. Keane was jailed for 10 months for taking the car.

Liam Keane, 24, is now serving a 10-year jail sentence after being caught with another man with a loaded Glock after a high-speed chase in which they tried to ram a garda car.

He and Greg Crawford were both jailed for 10 years by Limerick Circuit Court last January. They were both wearing gloves when arrested and gardaí suspect they were on a murder mission when intercepted.

Keane’s father Christy, 48, was released from prison last February after serving a 10-year sentence for a drugs offence.

Since his release members of the McCarthy Dundon gang have posted threats to his life on the internet.